Quick update: so far we have been blitzkrieging the TAT. Set up in a dicey motel in Pulaski; just north of the end of section 10. We are averaging 3-4 sections of the trail a day.
Day 1 had us leaving Fayetteville, NC a bit late due to work requirements. I think we finally left around 3pm... Yikes. Took our own route to the small logging/tourist trap of Dyson, NC; a quaint town in the Smokey Mountains. From there, we rode the Cherahola Skyway to Tellico Plains where we linked up with the actual TAT route. Traffic on the skyway was as expected; full of Harley's and CanAms. Weather could not have been better. Eastern Tennessee was a cake walk. Just a handful of miles on dirt roads with small water crossings were the only exciting bits.
What we love about the TAT is it takes you on roads through "real" America. Villages, towns and countryside that one would never see by taking the highways, state routes or even normal back roads. Cutting through farm fields with corn stalks towering over us on both sides, even while standing on the pegs, brought a sense of awe and appreciation to where our country came from and how it goes about its normal life.
We hope to make it to the end of section 13 at Ripley, MS tomorrow. I do have to get better at taking pictures and videos! I get so caught up in the ride and the moment that I don't even think about pulling over and setting up camera equipment/GoPros to capture the experience. That will change from here on out! We will easily make it to colorado by Saturday if we choose to keep up this pace. But if we aren't enjoying the ride, we will slow down, speed up, change the course or do whatever we need to in order to keep the spirit of the ride alive. That's it for now. Pretty worn out from changing tires in the motel parking lot...
Standing watch over the Cherahola Skyway
Fantastic views!
The Fryemont Inn at Bryson. Highly recommended. The owners drove us to a local brewery and knocked back several cold ones with us late at night. Swapped stories for hours. Great company.
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